Sanjay Jha

Cricket in India is not just a passion, but rather a religion. And thankfully, one that bridges, instead of dividing people along communal lines. Cricket icons like Sachin Tendulkar are demi-gods worshipped by all and sundry, as is evident from the amount of corporate endorsements they are involved with. Not surprisingly therefore, the dot-com wave had witnessed a plethora of cricket sites coming up in India, obviously with an eye to cash in on the near-hysterical cricket mania in the country. However, most of these cricket portals have not just been stumped, they have been clean bowled lock, stock and barrel. Apart from the UK-based Cricinfo (which has its maximum viewership in India), Cricketnext remains the only desi entity to have withstood the barrage of bouncers, yorkers and googlies that have skittled out its contemporaries in the interim period.

A venture from Walchand Capital, under the stewardship of director Sanjay Jha, Cricketnext was launched in 1999 with an exhibition one-dayer between Asia XI and Rest of the World XI at Dhaka. It received funding to the tune of around $2.5 million with the Australian media tycoon, Kerry Packer’s KVP Fund taking a 33 percent stake in it. Over the last three years, Cricketnext has made money sufficient for survival and Jha expects to break even by next March. A truly remarkable feat for an online cricket venture.

But what were the factors that helped Cricketnext to achieve a turn around? According to Jha, the first one was judicious pruning down of costs when dot-coms went on a downward spiral. Cricketnext reduced its operating costs by around 30 percent, through measures like staff reduction and other cost-cutting schemes. It also started dwelling in events like coaching camps conducted across different Indian cities with popular cricketers like Robin Singh and Sanjay Manjrekar. It even organised the Bradman memorabilia auction in conjunction with Baazee.

Jha says another big plus for the site during troubled teething times was its journalistic integrity. Exclusive and exciting stories relevant to the large cricket-loving public, not only in India but also among NRIs in the UK and the US, helped in brand building. That it has definitely created a credible niche on the editorial side is evident from the fact that during the Mike Denness controversy in South Africa, Cricketnext was the only way Ganguly and Tendulkar were able to keep a tab on opinions in India. Jha has written endorsements to prove this claim.

But where Cricketnext really scored a boundary was its e-commerce platform, which surprisingly has been a massive hit amongst NRIs. This required Jha to tie up with different logistics companies and warehouses and also arrange for different modes of payment. Cricketnext has also identified different people in different countries through whom to export its merchandise, to cut down on shipping costs. The moment this correspondent was speaking to Jha, one single transaction of 16,000 balls were being made to the US. In fact, such has been its success that Jha now plans to spin off the e-commerce initiative into a new venture called Batnext. With three VCs already providing funding to the tune of $2.5-4 million, this site is going to be up within the next one month.

But will Cricketnext’s fate be doomed once Batnext comes into existence? Jha allays such fears as he feels that the site would have a regular revenue stream through customised banners, features and databases, especially with a sponsor taking the site over in the next two months. In addition, Cricketnext is also in the final stages of creating and marketing events before selling them with the Ten Sports channel.